"You... you really plan to break off and found a kingdom?"

The old king sat heavy in his chair, watching Alicia kowtow, his heart like a wet robe clinging cold.

Yesterday's National Day had just ended, banners like autumn geese gliding down. He'd even granted his daughter and Ling the largest tract of land, a finale neat as a full moon. So he'd gone to bed buoyed, like a lantern rising.

When he woke and heard his daughter had come, he brightened, expecting warm thanks, like tea after frost. Who knew she'd open with this.

"Father! I'm eloping with Ling—no, wait. Please permit Ling and me to break off and found our own state!"

By reason, he had no grounds to chain them, like wind refusing the river. But Alicia was the crown he'd already placed in his heart; now that crown vanished, and helplessness pooled like dusk.

Maybe it was the steel in Alicia's eyes, sharp as a drawn blade. The old king sighed, leaves rustling in his chest, and agreed despite the ache.

"Rise. I consent. But promise me one thing. Whatever happens, guard the Moser Empire well."

Alicia didn't rise, but her bowed head lifted like a lotus from water.

"Mm. Rest assured. I said we'd go found a nation, but I'm not abandoning my home."

"Enough... go. Since you're leaving, I must seek a new road," he murmured, voice like an empty hall.

Only then did Alicia stand. At the door she bowed ninety degrees, a clean arc like a crescent, and whispered, "I'm sorry." The door closed, leaving the old king alone, his sigh drifting like smoke.

"Daughters grow, and you can't keep them," he said, a sparrow flicking off the eaves.

——

"...Mm. That's how it happened."

Alicia sat on the bed holding Ling, recounting, words falling like pebbles into a quiet pond.

Ling nodded, a shadow of sternness on her face, like ink drying.

"Sis, we were in the wrong this time. I don't mind the kowtow. But from now on, never lower your head to just anyone, got it?"

Warmth first, then action: Alicia's heart softened like spring sun. She stroked Ling's hair, palm drifting like a breeze, surprised that after all she'd said, Ling's focus stayed on her. Unexpected, and painfully cute.

"Alright, alright. I get it. From now on, I'll only bow to Ling. How's that?"

The little girl put the tip of her index finger to her lips, brows knotting like willow twigs, thinking hard.

"Emmmm... O-okay then. But remember what you said today! No take-backs!"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll always obey my dear little sister. But have you thought through the next plan?"

A plan... The word hung like fog.

When it came to plans, the little loli went hazy, thoughts fluttering like moths. To be honest, founding a state was just a spark born from this grand goal of "unify the world." A whim tossed out with a grin. As for an actual plan—none.

Rule by reckless charge? The crowd would flip like a school of fish; we'd be done.

Turtle-up and slow-grow? That wastes years; it smells wrong.

Sun Knight faith plan... huh? What kind of nonsense is that?

Ah! Got it! Then we'll—

"I'll be the hands-off boss, and Sis, you—"

"Rejected."

"Uuuu..."

Fine then, hands-off boss is a fantasy. And it's infuriating! In other transmigration tales, once the MC builds a nation, a whole staff appears to run it. He goes gallivanting, free as a hawk. Me? I have to do the dirty work myself. What kind of protagonist am I?

The more she stewed, the more her lips puffed, a tiny bellows full of pure "anger."

Alicia poked the hamster she'd become, laughter glinting like sunlight on glass.

"There's no rush. We'll go slow. For starters, let's give our country a new name."

A new name...

"Western Zero Empire."

"Don't plagiarize knockoffs."

"Emmm... Ai-Ling Empire?"

"Doesn't that grate on your ears?"

"Ling's Harem Corps?"

"Want to try ascending via death?"

"Then—'I'm the cutest under heaven, no rebuttals!'... Empire?"

"Be serious."

Bang! Alicia flicked her finger, a crisp thwack to clear the fog.

The little girl clutched her head, sulking. Others get carrot and stick. With Alicia, it's straight to the griddle and chestnuts—nothing but scorch.

"Think carefully. What kind of empire do you want to build?"

What kind of empire...

By Aer's reckoning, we'd have to rule all races, like stars gathered under one sky. By day, elf girls would chase Beastfolk boys through sunlit streets. Passing humans would smile at the racket, and if a dragon rumbled by, it'd give them a loop in the clouds. Come night, daemons would head to work. The night owls would share a drink with them, each pouring out their own burdens, some even finding true love there.

In any case, it points to peace among all races. There may be quarrels, but no war. There may be poverty, but no hunger. There may be disappointment, but no consuming sorrow. Unreal, like a painted paradise, yet it's the dream I must make real.

"Heh..."

The little girl let a soft laugh slip, like wind over rice. With Alicia's nudge, the answer stood bright.

A haven where all races live side by side.

A Mystic Realm that shouldn't belong to this world.

There'll be quarrels and want, but never the shattering of a calm life.

In my past life, didn't a place like that exist? Not in the real world, but in that other one beyond a thin, glowing screen.

"Let's call it—the Mystic Realm. What do you think?"